Stereotypes, Part 1 of 3

For better or worse, stereotypes exist about programmers, developers, and/or IT people in general. I've had many myself. In fact, for many foolish years, I believed that in order to be a high-quality IT person, I had to somehow morph into those stereotypes. Ahh, the funny things we believe sometimes.

I spent lots of time cramming languages and projects into my head and onto my computer in order to obtain a large skill set. Anytime I read about a technology that I wasn't familiar with, I immediately felt behind the curve and somehow inferior as a developer. Finally, thankfully, I learned to accept what I don't know and to build my knowledge gradually.

I fell for one of the common stereotypes in the developer's world, one know as "the Guru." The Guru is an IT know-it-all; you mention the technology or programming language, the Guru will know what it is, the pros, the cons, and probably have experience in that language. And to top it off, the Guru was superior and the non-Gurus were inferior. It was basically a pecking order in the IT world, with Guru being at the top. Strange? Yes. With a little more maturity, I realize that this stereotype is just fantasy. Just another manifestation of my own personal feelings of inferiority as a professional. The only things that keep this stereotype alive are, in fact, feelings of inferiority - the non-Gurus who feel inferior, and the Gurus who feel inferior and act superior to cover it. It's a self-feeding system.

Now, there are super-talented people who have a vast amount of experience and really can tell you at least something about many different technologies. Sometimes it feels like those people are the rule, rather than the exception. It can get discouraging. But, having had the opportunity to work with people like this, it is a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot in a short amount of time. I'd recommend developing a good relationship with this person, if possible.

I'm pretty sure a small book can be written on the subject of stereotypes. The programmer as a loner? Yes, it's out there. I'm part loner myself. I find it very satisfying to get one or several days in a row of "pure programming", as I call it - where I design and program the entire day, with few interruptions and no meetings. I wouldn't want this 8/5/52 (8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 days a year) - but in moderation, I love it.

But the programmer as an alien? Haha - in some cases, it may seem that way. There are a group of highly intelligent people who lack social skills, and for those people, computer work and programming are ideal. It allows them to exercise their creativity and intelligence, while minimizing social interaction. This kind of person can be very happy in this situation. It's the poor communication and social skills that lead non-IT people to believe this person is "weird", or an alien. But the truth is, not really - it's just a matter of social skills and experience. I can promise you these "strange" IT people are more or less like the majority. For those that are quirky and are able to express that - I say good for you. The "majority" of people hide their quirks - which in a lot of cases, are the great things that make each individual unique.